The Pakistani rupee registered further gains against the US dollar in the open market on Monday, as the local currency also strengthened in the inter-bank market.

During the day, currency dealers Business Recorder reached out to said the rupee was being quoted at 287.50 for selling and 284.50 for buying purposes for customers.

At the end of trading, the currency closed at the same rates, according to data provided by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP)

During the previous week, the PKR lost 25 paisa for both buying and selling against USD in the open market, closing at 285.25 and 288.25, respectively.

In the inter-bank market, the rupee maintained its upward trajectory against the US dollar for the third consecutive session, as it appreciated 0.19% in the inter-bank market on Monday.

The gap between rates in the inter-bank and open markets is required to be less than 1.25% under one of the structuralbenchmarks set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In a key development, the IMF staff and Pakistani authorities reached a staff-level agreement last week on first review of the IMF Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) program.

“Pakistan external account vulnerabilities can only be addressed effectively through a new and bigger IMF program,” said Topline Securities, a brokerage house, in a report on Friday.

The brokerage house said it expects that the new government will sign this long-term program with IMF in 2024.

“Resultantly we estimate some stability in PKR which we expect to average Rs302 in 2024 vs Rs280 in 2023 and may reach Rs324 by Dec 2024,” said Topline.